Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to electronic transactions, and more particularly, to techniques for pushing payments to merchants.
Related Art
It is common for consumers and businesses to have electronic accounts to send and receive payments from other parties. One example includes credit cards, which are typically read electronically and transfer money electronically. Another example is a payment provider, such as that offered under the name PayPal™, which provides electronic wallets that users can link to credit cards, bank accounts, and any other form of payment.
These methods of payment, whether electronic or otherwise, can be prone to fraud. For instance, it is not uncommon for criminals to steal credit card information and then to attempt to use the credit card information to pay for goods and services. A typical, modern credit card theft scenario involves a consumer's card that is compromised in some fashion and then canceled and replaced by the card issuer relatively quickly.
While the consumer is not typically obliged to pay for the criminal's purchases for a compromised credit card, the consumer still feels some inconvenience. By contrast, theft of bank account credentials may be more damaging to a consumer. Furthermore, the advent of wireless payments at Points of Sale (POSs) makes some consumers nervous that their account numbers, passwords, security codes, and other account credentials may be acquired by thieves skimming wireless transactions. Encryption and other measures may make the thieves' activities more difficult to accomplish successfully. However, encryption alone is not fraud-proof.
At the heart of such fraud is the ability of thieves to take a consumer's account credentials and then use the credentials in subsequent unauthorized transactions. Conventional transactions usually involve the consumer passing his or her account credentials to a merchant, and the merchant then uses the credentials to receive payment from a payment provider. For instance, a consumer may present a credit card to a merchant, and the merchant swipes or otherwise reads the card to acquire the credit card number and other information, such as a security code or expiration date. The merchant then presents the consumer's credentials to a payment provider for payment. It is the presentation of the consumer's credentials to the merchant that puts the consumer at risk, as the consumer's credentials may be stolen. Transactions, whether in person at a POS or over the phone or Internet could benefit from measures to decrease theft.